Every year teams worry about the "cool" features of the robot, like the hanger, kicker, ball shooter, etc. Unfortunately, those are rarely the most important things on the robot. How good is a "perfect" kicker if the robot can't grab a ball? The better teams are the ones who understand the pyramid shaped set of design dependencies we see in each and every game, and mold their robot around what is REALLY important, rather than what SEEMS important at first glance.
If you want to learn more about how to do this, I recommend checking out the panel discussion at the FIRST Robotics Conference in Atlanta this year. There should be a ton of useful insight to be had there.
All in all, these robots aren't rocket science. If you work hard enough and gain enough experience, you can compete with the best.
...Or you can pull a Tom and follow the old homage of "If you can't beat em, join em." 